Friedenthal Financial Takes $771,000 Position in The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC)

Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 38,697 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $771,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MAC. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Macerich by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,388 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 1,174 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Macerich by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,426,909 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $99,004,000 after acquiring an additional 34,982 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc boosted its position in shares of Macerich by 91.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 193,777 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,534,000 after acquiring an additional 92,551 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Macerich by 0.7% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 314,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,727,000 after acquiring an additional 2,322 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Macerich by 0.3% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 275,731 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,029,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. 87.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Macerich news, Director Andrea M. Stephen sold 63,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.59, for a total transaction of $1,303,120.51. Following the transaction, the director now owns 83,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,718,832.61. This trade represents a 43.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Macerich in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho upgraded Macerich from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Macerich from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Macerich from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $22.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Compass Point lifted their price target on shares of Macerich from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.24.

Macerich Trading Up 0.9 %

Macerich stock traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $19.48. The stock had a trading volume of 1,791,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,668,112. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.84 billion, a PE ratio of 49.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 2.51. The Macerich Company has a 12 month low of $12.99 and a 12 month high of $22.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.77.

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.90). Macerich had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 8.98%. The business had revenue of $220.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.44 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Macerich Company will post 1.56 EPS for the current year.

Macerich Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Macerich’s dividend payout ratio is currently 174.36%.

About Macerich

Macerich is a fully integrated, self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT). As a leading owner, operator and developer of high-quality retail real estate in densely populated and attractive U.S. markets, Macerich’s portfolio is concentrated in California, the Pacific Northwest, Phoenix/Scottsdale, and the Metro New York to Washington, DC corridor.